


Ghosts of Konoha

by MidNightNeverMore



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Ghosts, How did I even come up with this?, I Don't Even Know, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2018-10-19 11:19:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10638780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidNightNeverMore/pseuds/MidNightNeverMore
Summary: When Naruto was born, like most children, he was able to see ghosts, and like most children, he was supposed to grow out of it, but he didn't.Now read as Naruto grows up with protective ghosts and a village that's starting to turn on its head, who knew emotions from ghosts possessing people could get left behind, Mito Uzumaki didn't, but she'll make good use of that info.





	1. The start of something wonderful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is starting, and Mito is spearheading it all.

Mito had been watching over Konoha ever since she married Hashirama, no one would have thought she hadn't stopped when she died. 

So here she was watching with anger as doctors avoided a crying bundle of blonde hair, the doctors avoided the baby like the plague, rarely giving the blonde babe the attention he needed, instead of hugs and kisses like the other babies got, he was given glares, harsh whispers, and negligence. 

Who was the baby, you might ask, well this baby was Naruto Uzumaki, the son of Kushina Uzumaki, who was the grand niece of Mito Uzumaki, and Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage.

 When Mito learned that Naruto was being so horribly mistreated simply because he was a Jinchuuriki, she ended up being so furious her spiritual energy made the lights burst, sending glass and electricity raining, luckily she was in the staff room, and the only injuries happened to the neglectful doctors.

Of all the spirits wandering aimlessly throughout the hospital, more than half were killed during the Kyuubi attack, and of those spirits, none harbored any ill will on the innocent child crying helplessly in his cold metal crib," Hey little guy, you just want someone to talk to you right?" Mito asked, gently stroking the crying face that stared at her, and she nearly wilted when sharp blue eyes stared into her own, sure her older sister's eyes were black like her own but the eye shape the baby boy had was identical to Kasama," You know, my big sister is your Sōsobo, your great grandma, that means I'm your great aunt, your Ōoba." Mito said fondly, lightly poking Naruto's nose eliciting a giggle.

" It's laughing." 

A doctor said, eyeing the blonde baby as he laughed.

" Just ignore it."

 Another hissed out, avoiding the crib that was placed in the darkest corner of the room," I'm so sorry." Mito said quietly, bringing her face closer to Naruto, not realizing her tears were falling onto her great-nephew. 

" Lady Mito!" A voice quietly exclaimed, a voice Mito knew well," Izuna." She said kindly, turning to the younger Uchiha, who seemed surprised she was crying. 

" Who is he?" He asked, coming to stand next to Lady Uzumaki, he'd never seen her cry, not even when Hashirama was fatally wounded," My sister's great grandchild, he holds the nine-tails, and is ostracized for it." Mito said calmly, stroking the blonde babe once more.

" They're scared, terrified of the beast, but that is no reason to harbor such ill intent to someone who had nothing to do with that." Izuna said leaning over the crib to peek at the happy baby, "He's cute." 

Izuna stroked the baby's cheek, watching the blue in Naruto's eyes seem to glow," He is, but his mother should be here to care for him," Mito said bitterly, watching the doctors once more, as they avoided the corner," I wonder..." 

Mito brought her attention back to the younger Uchiha," Yes?" Instead of answering her, Izuna walked to one of the nearby nurses, if Mito remembered correctly, this nurse had been working here for some time, and quickly possessed her, no, possessed wasn't the right word," You know he just wants someone to hold him." The nurse, Kibō, said bitterly, eyeing the other nurses with disgust before she made her way to Naruto, and picked the babe up.

" You just want someone to care for you, huh." Kibō asked, causing another giggle to escape the baby's mouth," See, he's a cutie." Kibō pressed, showing the happily clapping baby to another nearby nurse.

" He is!" Squealed a Hyuuga nurse, waggling her fingers in Naruto's face, though the other nurses were still adamant," Is this baby really that much of a monster?" Kibō suddenly asked, watching as the room seemed to stop," Last time I checked babies who were being born when the fox attacked were nothing but innocents born on a horrible day." The Hyuuga agreed, gently taking the happy baby from her fellow nurse. 

" Look." She said walking towards the other nurses, allowing Naruto's whiskered face to be seen," Look into these cute eyes!" Reluctantly the remaining nurses took a peek at Naruto, and nearly all of them swooned," I have an idea!" Another nurse said suddenly, quickly running out of the room," I'm pleased to say it worked." Izuna said appearing next to Mito, a triumphic smirk on his face. 

" What did you do?" She asked eyeing the scene in front of her, pleased and worried," I simply implemented a suggestion into her head to treat your nephew with kindness." Within a second, Izuna regreted telling Mito, one of the scariest Uzumaki ever known, this information.

" Really..." She said smoothly, a sly smirk coming onto her face as she maneuvered her way to her great-nephew," Hey Naruto-Kun, I'm going to make sure you have the best childhood!" And she wasn't just saying it to say it, there was a determination in Mito's eyes, soft and strong," Here it is! Let's get him out of that old blanket!" Within a minute, Naruto was changed into a onesie that was designed to look like a cat. 

Mito laughed.

It wasn't long after that the boy was moved to the Konoha Orphanage, and it was an even shorter time when Naruto was kicked out of the orphanage.

 

 

A bright blonde boy hummed happily as he plucked weeds from Old Man Josuki's yard," Aren't you chipper today, lad." The elderly man said happily to the grinning four-year-old.

" I like plants." Naruto responded, lightly poking a nearby flower, watching as it bloomed.

" It's the nature chakra." Josuki confirmed, nodding at the work Naruto did," Nature has chakra?" The young blonde asked, focusing his attention on a nearby rose.

" Yep, it's the natural chakra of the world, every plant and animal have natural chakra, you know about the five chakra affinities right?" Naruto shook his head no, and Josuki smiled," There's earth, water, fire, wind, and lightning." The old man started, making Mito smile, she was hoping someone would teach her little sunshine, even though she knew all about chakra she didn't want to teach Naruto in public, everyone thought he was a monster enough, talking to no one in the middle of day would just solidify that thought.

" That's cool! Can someone use all the chakra types in one Jutsu?" Joseki hummed a confirmation," Lady Mito Uzumaki could, and so could many Uzumaki." The elder chuckled at the awestruck look that took over Naruto's face," You mean Auntie Mito was super powerful!"

 Mito felt a tug at her heart, even though it long ago had stopped beating, when she heard what he called her," Lady Mito was one of the most powerful Uzumaki to be born, Lady Mito and Lady Kasama were known to be terrors on the battlefield, but they were kind too." 

Pride swelled in Mito's chest as Naruto lit up even more, but the icing on the cake was what Naruto said next," I wanna be strong and kind like Ōoba Mito, I bet she could protect so many of her precious people!" Josuki chuckled at the blonde's enthusiasm, nodding at the young boy," I think you can be anything you want to be."

" I want to be Hokage! Then I can protect everyone, and, and I can make sure everyone is kind to each other!" Mito felt tears come to her eyes, she was so proud of her little sunshine," I bet Lady Mito believes in you too." The elderly man nodded in Mito's direction, old shinobi could always sense spiritual chakra.

" She aways says she's already proud of me." Naruto said glancing back at Mito with a bright smile," You're so strong little light, you're so filled with love, even though others are so filled with hate." Mito said, crouching next to her great-nephew, forcing enough of her spiritual chakra into her hand to ruffle his hair.

" I bet, you're a sweet boy... Hey, Naruto, how would you like me to teach you how to open all your chakra pathways? I know how to open three of the five, but I know my wife knows how to open the other two." Josuki's eyes softened as pure wonder found its way onto Naruto's face," Yeah! Then I can be powerful like the other Uzumaki's!" 

Mito felt a tear slip down her face, warm against her cold spiritual form.


	2. Working out the kinks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mito and Izuna raise enough hell that finally something good happens for the blonde baby, though he's not actually a baby anymore.  
> Meanwhile, Naruto makes a friend who isn't elderly and isn't dead, aka, a whole compound adopts him, Kami bless the poor soul dumb enough to make Naruto sad.

Izuna watched the scene in front of him with humor, and he could sense the smug air Mito was giving off.

" Hiruzen will try to talk to me more often now, you realize this." Tobirama said, eyeing his 'sister-in-law', as she eyed the numerous papers scattered on Sarutobi's desk," Much like Hashirama, your student hates paperwork."

" I think everyone hates paperwork."

Mito shot Izuna a humored look, as Sarutobi quickly stood alerting his two hidden ANBU guards," Someone get me a Uchiha and quickly." He called to Hound, the closer guard, he watched  as Hound pulled himself from the shadows in a confused manner," I need to make sure some info is correct." Sarutobi said curtly, though the tone of unease wasn't as well hidden as he hoped.

Hound sent the Hokage a swift nod, already gone before his head went back up, neither ANBU guards saw the already faded words written in a dead man's handwriting fading even slower from the Hokages notes.

" After all these years, neither of you left." Sarutobi told the open air, confusing the other ANBU operative that had stayed," Forgive me Mito, for the choices I made." He knew he wouldn't get any forgiveness from her, but he still felt a need to ask.

 

 

 

Naruto prodded the young ravenette laying before him, while said ravenette only stirred slightly," Hey, wake up, please." Naruto said quietly to the other young boy, who finally awoke.

Bright blue eyes met black ones, warm embers shocked to see such a startling shade blue," Hello." Sasuke nearly stuttered out, eyeing the blonde hair that seemed give the other boy an ethereal look as it shined in the light. The blonde shifted from foot to foot nervously, as if Sasuke's gaze was analyzing him instead of staring in awe.

" My name's Naruto Uzumaki, you're Sasuke right?" The blonde quietly asked, fidgeting with his hands, sure he could talk to ghosts just fine, and some of the older shinobi, but other kids? No, he didn't have a clue, he just liked to stay in the background helping those who needed it. 

The young Uchiha nodded, not trusting his voice as watched the pretty boy he had never seen before," Okay, good, you're, uh... Mom was looking for you, seemed really worried." Naruto mumbled, edging away from the other as if the Uchiha would suddenly attack him. 

" WE SHOULD BE FRIENDS." Sasuke blurted loudly, a blush coming to his face at what he had loudly and undignifiedly squawked out at the obviously uncomfortable blonde," S-sorry, I didn't mean to yell but we should still be friends." The Uchiha said again after a moment of silence, watching as the blonde practically lit up, before the blonde suddenly retreated back into his shell.

"Why?'

"Huh? What do you mean why? I want to be your friend because," _You're really pretty,_ " I want to be, Naruto." Sasuke said stubbornly, emphasizing Naruto's name with as much force a five-year-old could. Surprisingly, it seemed the answer Sasuke gave Naruto was enough, and Naruto's smiled returned a little," Come on!" Sasuke said suddenly, grabbing Naruto by the wrist and gently pulling him towards the nearby Uchiha compound.

Trying his best not to be seen as they half walked half sprinted to Sasuke's home, Sasuke took in Naruto's appearance, and tried desperately not to frown at what he saw. 

Despite the bright gold hair, and glowing blue eyes, Naruto didn't look healthy, making Sasuke worry slightly, the blonde was shorter than him and much thinner, though his skin still held a tan hue," Mom will probably feed you until you explode, she likes to bake." Sasuke told him, watching his new friend closely.

Naruto simply smiled back, obviously clueless on how to act," Yeah, I could smell lots of chocolate and strawberries coming from your house." Naruto told him quietly, waiting for something Sasuke to do something, though Sasuke didn't know what yet.

The Uchiha nodded, tearing his eyes away from the many bandages that littered Naruto's arms and legs, Naruto's tattered showing to many bruises for Sasuke to like," She likes cooking, said it helps her cope after Ku-Kushi's death." Sasuke said sadly, noticing Naruto's tilted head at the name," Ah, mom had a friend she nicknamed Ku-Kushi." Sasuke explained, watching with intent eyes as Naruto thought.

(Everything about the blonde intrigued the young Uchiha, he wouldn't know until later that night when he asked his mother about feelings that what he had was, in fact, a crush, Fugaku nearly choked on his dinner when Sasuke admitted to having a crush on Naruto, very, very bluntly to his family.)

"My mom was named Kushina." Naruto said quietly, as if afraid to say the statement out loud, causing Sasuke to frown slightly," She died when I was still a baby." Naruto admitted and Sasuke softened his face though with the Uchiha genes it didn't look like much, but Sasuke somehow got the feeling that Naruto knew.

The silence as they entered the Uchiha compound was both comfortable, and unnerving.

" It's okay, they aren't going to hurt you." Sasuke whispered, not so quietly, to Naruto, making the few surrounding adults want to roll their eyes, of course, the kid would be scared of the 'big bad Uchi-'," Sorry, it's just adults don't like me very much." The blonde muttered back just as 'quietly', making the adults flinch ever so slightly, realizing what he was implying, even if Sasuke didn't fully yet.

An Uchiha woman who had been watching suddenly smirked, making her way to the young boys," Sasuke-Kun, who's your cute friend?" She asked kindly, bending down to ruffle the young clan head heir's hair," His name is Naruto." Sasuke said quickly, swatting at the older Uchiha's hand as if offended from the affection she was giving him.

Somehow, Naruto thought he was imposing and looked away awkwardly.

The older Uchiha's that had been watching closely noticed Naruto's action immediately, and most were ready to snatch the kid up and claim him as their own at that very moment.

There was thing no one messed with when Uchiha's were around, the safety and happiness of children. Uchiha or not.

The Uchiha woman who had ruffled Sasuke's hair, turned to Naruto and smiled," Names Saku. Want a piggy back ride?" She offered, already picking up Naruto before he could answer," It's not usual for kids from the inner village to come in here." She told him truthfully, sliding the far too light child onto her back.

After a moment of silence, Naruto's voice echoed through the incredibly still compound," I don't think the village likes me much." Yep, the Hokage was going to receive hell from the now very angry Uchiha's scattered about," But it's okay, I still like the village. Hate gets you nowhere." The young blonde said with a smile that showed more than he said.

The Hokage was still going to get very detailed complaints from many Uchiha.

Saku shifted Naruto slightly so he was in a more comfortable position, and took a peek at the blonde, he seemed to fixate on a spot where no one stood, as if someone was there," See something kid?" She asked lightly, half serious and half joking. Who knew what abilities, though underdeveloped, he had.

Naruto nodded against her," I see ghosts." 

Well, that certainly wasn't what Saku, or Sasuke, or the many nearby Uchiha had been expecting," There's a porcupine looking man standing there." Naruto had pointed at the spot he had been staring at," Says his name is Madararara..." Naruto wrinkled his nose, before gaping and gasping," That's a bad word!" The blonde whispered out in mock surprise.

Saku couldn't help but snort, meanwhile, Sasuke was liking Naruto more and more.

" You can see spirits?" Sasuke asked excitedly, a large grin on his face, the many other Uchiha interested as well, spiritual chakra was a rare thing to see, only those who would die soon or had spent years molding it could see it, even then it was just a faint chakra outline of a body," How many spirits are here?" Sasuke asked, ember eyes lighting up when Naruto faced him, making Naruto flush and hide into Saku's back.

" I don't know, a lot of the older spirits, like ones that have been dead for a long time, really only stay to watch the village grow, some come and go so the number always changes." Naruto mumbled, finger unconsciously drawing random patterns into Saku's back.

" Big brother Izuna taught me how to make explosions, and evade ANBU, and aunt Mito taught me sealing, and how to make chains like my mom could." Naruto said causing Sasuke to grin at him," Then we can train together, and teach each other cool techniques." Sasuke said with a smile as Saku let Naruto down, the small group already at Mikoto's home.

Saku watched the two boys quietly enter the home, hands clasped together as if one would disappear," 'Big brother Izuna', at least we know he's in good hands." A nearby Uchiha said, before another groaned," I've been trying for years to mold spiritual chakra and now a kid 1/5 my age can do it, it's so embarrassing."," You're just embarrassing in general." Saku retorted, ignoring the fake hurt squawk her friend made," Anyone want to send a very _'polite'_ worded letter to the Hokage?" She asked, already knowing a good portion of them had already started.

 

 

Itachi stared wide-eyed at the red haired woman next to him, when Hound had come to get Itachi and Shisui, and not Weasel and Lion, he will admit to having been worried, but how was he suppose to react to... To _this_?

"So she really is here." Sarutobi said with a slight groan," And she appears to be glaring at you sir, as well as..." Itachi was suddenly very alert," Izuna-Sama." He tried to calmly but it came out slightly nervous and rushed.

Izuna simply waved back with a smile.

Sarutobi sighed, today was going to be a long day," Uh... I apologize for saying this but Izuna-Sama said,' If you let the two old hags run the council any more than they do then they'll start to think they have the final say. It's depressing how incompetent you seem to be, little Hiru-Ru-Chan.'" Itachi said both surprised and embarrassed.

" Kami help us all." Sarutobi said as Shisui finally woke up, he'd been training with Itachi and had nearly used all his chakra, upon activating his Kekkai Genkai he promptly passed out, a medic had been forcing chakra into his system for the last twenty minutes.

Itachi was never going to let this go.

Itachi suddenly began choking on air, worrying the occupants in the room as most started to realize this was actually happening, the ghost thing, not the choking," Izuna-Sama!" Itachi said horrified, before Sarutobi coughed, motioning with his for Itachi to say whatever Izuna had.

" Danzo is, I apologize for this sir, Danzo is a grown man turning kids into monsters with a plan to kill all the Uchiha for their Kekkai Genkai, just hurry up and off him already. He's an annoying and overconfident dog with rabies that needs to be put down." Itachi's eyes widened even more as he eyed the empty corner on the right side of Sarutobi's desk," Um, the Nidaime agreed mostly, except for the kill his student part, and Mito said she would kill him if he even tried to go after Naruto." 

Most ANBU winced, and the other adults that knew about Danzo's whole make Naruto a weapon for Konoha scheme, did as well," I see." Was all Sarutobi said as he pulled out a hidden sake bottle from his desk," I haven't drunk this brand in years." He said fondly before taking a shot," Itachi, please continue. We have much to talk about." Sarutobi said motioning to the vacant spaces where spirits stood, while other adults occasionally took shots.

It ended up being a long night indeed. Though not for a smirking Hound on the other side of the village.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Young Sasuke was a sweetheart and no one can change my opinion on this.
> 
> Also sorry for the whole not posting things, family things came up.
> 
> Guess what, a certain family member is a complete arse.


	3. The Fox and the Hound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter dedicated to Naruto making relationships with mini clan heirs, certain ANBU members, and a big mean fuzzball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I finished this a week-ish ago, it might be the only one getting updated for a while, a quick rundown of what's happened/happening:
> 
> Hurricane (Irma was a bitch.), Uncle got shot (He survived), got a Niece ( She is so cute, I love her.), got another cousin ( I have too many, anyone want one?), (The same one) Uncle got hit by a truck and is in the hospital now. 
> 
> So I haven't really had type to sit down and type, and there's only so much I can do on mobile, so my other two stories will be updated way, way later when things calm down and my Uncle isn't in intensive care.
> 
> I try to do what I can but it won't be much.
> 
>  
> 
> And before anyone asks, it looks like my Uncle will pull through.

Hound hummed barely audible as Naruto clung to his back, seemingly obsessed with the concept of 'piggy-backs', he had seen many Uchiha fondly smile when the small blonde asked if he could have one. 

He couldn't say no to those wide blue eyes, the heated glare of Mikoto didn't help either, nor did the quiet death threats mumbled from the other Uchiha's if Hound made Naruto sad or crestfallen while they were around.

( When Kakashi came to pick Naruto up, he had found the blonde being cradled by Mikoto, the young blonde now had random braids throughout his hair. He didn't seem to mind though.)

 The silver-haired male had hoisted Naruto up with ease, shifting uncomfortably when he realized the kid felt a tad bit too light, he tilted his mask towards a nearby Uchiha, as if asking a silent question, the Uchiha in question crossed her arms and huffed, which seemed to answer said question," Did I do something wrong?" Naruto asked quietly, in a voice that tugged at Kakashi's heartstrings more than he wanted to admit.

A sigh left Kakashi's lips as he shifted Naruto on his side, before bringing a black-gloved hand to poke Naruto on the nose, a sign Hound often gave when he didn't know what to say but wanted to show he cared anyway. It was also another way for Hound to show affection.

Blue eyes seemed to glow as they watched Kakashi, elicitating a smile from behind the mask and though Naruto couldn't see it, he always seemed to know," I heard from a certain someone," It was the Hokage, they both knew," that you liked ramen," Naruto perked up, nearby Uchiha stifled snorts as they watched the two go," And I know that Ichiraku is having a buy one get one free sale going on." Hound finished, feeling the tiny blonde bounce against him," Can we go, please? Please?" He asked quietly as if afraid to ask, but Hound only hummed," I already planned on buying you some." The ANBU admitted, receiving a tight hug, Kakashi was actually surprised by how strong the young blonde was despite how frail he looked.

Madara made a face, the brat was most definitely a Uzumaki, them and their damn Ramen obsession.

" It's so sweet."

" Yeah, It makes my teeth hurt."

" And you two make my eyes hurt. Shut up." Three nearby Uchiha's said as they eyed Kakashi and Naruto, many Uchiha didn't mind the Hatake, especially since he was a kid when Obito died, and a broken shell of a boy had wandered by with no clue what to do anymore. Years later they watched the same broken boy, a man at the time, come back even more broken, only to break more mere years later.

Though at that time, everyone seemed to break.

A giggle drew most Uchiha back to the bright blonde who was now sitting on Kakashi's shoulders, hands fisted into the elder's white hair. It was a sweet sight to behold, anyone who knew Kakashi knew he tried to be detached from everything and everyone, to see the ANBU member obviously happy with a kid who needed Kakashi just as Kakashi needed him, it was just a pleasant sight to see.

 

Even though Kakashi couldn't see or feel spiritual chakra, he knew a spirit was following them, how?

Naruto was glancing back at the 'Dararara' man, who had followed them from the Uchiha compound.

Did Kakashi have a clue what that meant, or who that was? No.

Was he going to tell Naruto to stop trying to talk to the man? _No_. 

Naruto could actually see spirits, a very awkward conversation with Rin played in his mind, so why would he try to tell the young blonde that his ability was fake, or dumb? Why would he tell him to stop? 

Though he did wonder who this 'Dararara' person was, and if it was who Kakashi thought it was... Naruto would be fine actually, ghosts seemed to like Naruto, be it for existing or for how nice and forgiving he was.

Madara, on the other hand, twitched at the name, not daring to snap at the kid since he too had a soft spot for children, though he would deny it to everyone, anyone, he took that secret to his grave and no one was getting it out of him. 

The only reason he had even followed the small blonde was simply because he had overheard another dead Uchiha call him a Jinchuuriki, the few he met alive and dead had been treated mostly well, but judging from the small frame, the fear of most human contact, and ragged clothes.  

It was safe for Madara to assume that the young boy hadn't been treated the same. 

" There it is!" The blonde happily called, wiggling around on Kakashi until he was back on Kakashi's hip, Kakashi was one of the only few adults Naruto really liked, besides the Hokage, 'The Nara-Man', the few elderly shinobi's that would take him away from the village if they saw someone about to hassle him, and now the many adults in the Uchiha compound.

He knew that the deer compound didn't mind him, so did the compound filled with the white-eyed ninjas, though for that compound it was mostly the women who liked him.

The dog compound liked him too, now that he thought about it, due to him being so in tune with nature chakra, the dogs of the compound liked him, which led to their human partners liking him as well.

The spirits had their own list since they were too many to count, he would always try and fail, to count them all, but Aunt Mito, and Izuna-Nii were at the top, the other red haired woman who would fade in and out of existence was someone he really liked too, he wasn't able to spend much time with her though. 

Okay so maybe it wasn't a few.

" Did I just hear my favorite customer?" Teuchi asked loudly as Kakashi ducked down to make sure that Naruto didn't get hit by the hanging banner showing off the sale.

" You bet!" Naruto happily called back, not even noticing the other two Shinobi sitting quietly at the counter.

Kakashi placed the excited blonde on a small stack of books that sat in the middle chair, after all, it was there for him, no one was even allowed to move them either," Can I have Miso?"  Naruto asked loudly, beaming at Teuchi, Kakashi simply chuckled at the blond, he always seemed to light any room he was in, though his mood shifted slightly when Anko suddenly threw herself on him.

" Oo~ Hound I didn't know you liked them young!" She teased, snatching pork out of his fresh ramen with her chopsticks when he tried to push her off," Anko." The ANBU said calmly while jabbing her in the side to let him go, which she did stumbling back nearly into Ibiki," How you wound me!" Anko fake groaned, trying to snatch the fish cake out of Ibiki's bowl, though he easily blocked her, making her pout as she returned to her seat, not daring to try again.

" You can have mine." A small voice said, pale blue chopsticks holding out a fish cake to the purple haired woman, when she glanced at the owner, she nearly frowned. 

The boy was far too thin.

" Nah, I only eat Ibiki's cause it's his least favorite part. You keep yours okay?" She said sending the young blonde a wink, watching as he giggled and went back to his-

Anko smiled suddenly, eyeing the 4 empty bowls next to him, they had literally just arrived," Five bowls kid? You must have a lot chakra." Anko stated, no wonder he was so thin his chakra took the energy and nutrients the food gave him, she brought hands together in a clasp," That's good, shinobi need a lot of chakra." She told him, the blonde barely even looking up from the bowl he was almost drowning in.

" I know!" He said happily, finally placing the bowl back onto the counter," Mr. Shamazu helped me open all my chakra pathways, and so did Mrs. Shamazu." Anko's eyebrows met her hairline and she glanced at the very smug Kakashi next to her, she might've not been able to see his face but she could sense it.

" Really?" She asked, Ibiki nudging her to make the boy continue.

" Yep! I'm an Uzumaki so they were already half open, and since I have some condition they were almost completely open." Naruto quickly went back to his ramen, oblivious to the gaping woman staring at him.

" R-really?" Anko asked, her eyebrow twitching, as Ibiki sighed and leaned over his ramen, he had a feeling that he'd be back on guard duty soon," You're gonna be one hell of a ninja, kid." She muttered, turning away.

" That's what Izuna-Nii says, I can't wait till I learn my dad's skill, I can already do my moms chains. Though they're really hard to do for really long." Naruto said absentmindedly, only to stop mid-bite when a wave of shock hit him, the emotion buzzing against his skin.

" Did I say something wrong?" Naruto practically whispered to Kakashi in a shaking voice, wishing he could curl up into a ball and hide, or take back what he said.

" N- No, it's just I didn't know you knew about them." The ANBU retorted quickly, his voice slightly squeaky as he made sure Naruto didn't cry.

" I bet you'd make your father proud." Anko interrupted, harshly elbowing her squad captain in the side, much to his annoyance.

" Yes, I don't know how much our opinion matters, but I must say both my comrade and I are rather impressed." Ibiki cut in, catching Anko's arm before she could elbow him again.

Wide tear rimmed blue eyes stared at the older shinobi as if trying to discern if they were lying to them, the action forcing them to realize just how small Naruto was," Really?" He asked with a shaky voice," I thought he didn't like me, I couldn't find him anywhere." The boy confessed, making the two shinobi even more uncomfortable and confused, having never really been in a situation like this with a kid before, or anyone really.

"Hey, come on, I bet he moved on since he was so proud to have you." Kakashi told Naruto, pulling the blonde off his makeshift chair and into his lap, while the other two shinobi watched on in slight awe as Kakashi switched from 'Hound' to a big brother talking to his little brother, not even phased by the whole ghost dad ordeal.

(Most ANBU knew about Naruto's spirit seeing abilities because of Kakashi, bursting into the ANBU HQ repeating 'She's been following me since she died.' near hysterics had everyone questioning him.)

Anko quickly turned from the scene, feeling as if she shouldn't intrude on something so intimate," We are so going back on the Naruto protection squad." She mumbled to Ibiki, trying to ignore the now happy squeals that were coming out of Naruto as Kakashi tickled him. Something she would never let Hound live down.

Ibiki grimaced slightly, Naruto was a sweetheart sure, but Naruto also liked to pull pranks and sneak out. 

How a young child could easily evade a giant squad of ANBU was beyond him, it made guarding him both a dream come true and a nightmare.

" Thank you for the food Teuchi." Hound called out, interrupting Ibiki's thoughts," You ready to head out?" The silver-haired male said to Naruto, whose face was red and puffy but a smile was still there.

"Yep! I wanna try something new tonight!" The blonde responds with a sniffle, a mischevious glint in his eye made the three ANBU stiffen slightly," Just don't do too much damage, yeah?" Kakashi asked, and if Anko didn't know better she'd almost think he was begging. 

 

 

Kakashi should've tried harder to make Naruto go to sleep, he should've convinced the young blonde that maybe tonight wasn't a good night for pranks, because now as he dodges a water balloon filled with Kami knows what, he's really regretting not trying hard enough.

In fact, he couldn't even remember how this mess started.

" Naruto get back here!" Bunny yelled, sliding through the thick blue paint covering the floor, his short chestnut hair sticking to his neck and mask from sweat.

" Naruto Uzumaki!" Ox screeched as she slammed into a wall as not to slam into the short blonde.

" But it's fun." The blonde cheerfully called back, somehow maneuvering himself out of the many grasping hands of the different ANBU operators, all the while throwing different colored water balloons in different Directions.  

" Naruto..." Bear muttered quietly finally snatching the giggling blonde as he slid around, said blonde only giggled as a retort," What do you have to say for yourself?" Cat asked him, her hands fisted on her hips though she didn't seem to be mad, instead rather amused.

" Only 1 thing: I was just the distraction, the boss isn't here." Naruto said with a grin before dispersing and causing the ANBU to really worry. 

Most of them didn't know he could make clones, let alone shadow clones, and the thought alone made them feel much older," You're kidding me, you have got to be." Lion whined, dramatically falling onto Weasel, who simply pushed his cousin off of him.

Though on the other side of the ANBU HQ the real Naruto sat wrapped comfortably in a large deep red blanket, listening to the ghosts inform him of the many ANBU running about.

" I'm rather impressed with your ability to suppress your chakra." Madara told the blonde quietly, watching other spirits enter giggling about something they saw before leaving again to watch more.

" And balancing your chakra in your clones? Very smart." Rin, the ghost that normally followed Kakashi around, whispered sweetly to Naruto.

" And then using nature chakra to hide your chakra system since ANBU naturally overlook nature chakra. Brilliant." Another Uchiha spirit said, one Naruto had met recently named Kagami.

The blonde grinned, showing the three spirits a wide smile," I overheard Uncle-Tobi, and Aunt Mito talking about how the ANBU ignore nature chakra, and Izuna-Nii said my clones could be more stable if I added more of my chakra so I wanted to test both out. I also wanna try to make a clone out of nature chakra so my clone is undetectable." The blonde stated happily and Rin giggled.

" Yep, definitely a Namikaze, and Uzumaki." Kagami said with a smile and a shake of his head.

" Your father is a Namikaze?" Madara asked Naruto, eyeing the blonde who was doodling the same seal onto different tags," Yep, my dad was the fourth Hokage. I wanna learn his wind Jutsu thing, and his teleporting thing." Naruto said happily, showing his completed tags to Rin.

" Freeze tag?" She asked quietly, glancing at the other two spirits with confusion," A tag that Freeze's someone? Where'd you learn that one?" Kagami asked, peering over the blonde to eye the intricate design written on the small slip of paper.

" I created it." The blonde said nonchalantly," I was playing with my new friend Sasuke earlier and he brought up the idea of freezing people without using a Jutsu, so I made a tag to do it." Naruto further explained at the awed faces of the three adults," You're five, yes?" Madara suddenly asked, leaning away from the blonde with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Yep!" Naruto said happily forgetting that he was supposed to be quiet," Here you are!" Cat loudly declared as she burst into the room, Bunny, Lion, and Weasel following closely after her," Whoops." Naruto mumbled shifting his eyes away from the group of adults, or mature five-year-olds as Hound had once called them.

" Don't worry, we won't tell." Lion quickly squeezed himself into the room, a pack of cards gripped in his hand," We weren't really looking for you anyway, we just didn't want to clean up the chakra absorbing paint you threw about, Weasel might not agree with us though." Despite wearing a mask, Naruto could tell the ANBU was sticking his tongue out at Weasel," It proves that despite I, being the youngest, am the most mature." Weasel quickly counteracted, with a tilt of his head to Lion.

Cat quietly made her way to the bed Naruto sat on, sliding the bundle of boy and blankets into her lap," Wanna play poker with us? We'll be nice and let you substitute candy instead of money." Cat told him sweetly, tickling what little of Naruto's feet or stomach she could see.

The giggling blonde nodded his head vigorously, trying and failing to wiggle out of Cat's grasp," I wanna play, I wanna play!" Naruto finally answered, knowing Cat wouldn't have stopped until he was vocal.

" Yay! So here are the rules..." She started.

 

 

Later that night, more like early morning really, Hound and Bear finally found the source of the ANBU's frantic running around and the missing search crew that was probably, and had been, shirking their duties.

Bear didn't know what was more comical, Weasal staring off into space in pure wonder, Lion sobbing against the nearest wall, Bunny holding his masked face into his hands in defeat, Cat staring at the ceiling as she shoved an almost completely depleted wallet into her kunai pouch, or Naruto who sat behind a rather large mountain of Ryo and candy," I win again!" The young blonde cheerfully called.

Hound merely sighed," Naruto what have I said about tricking people into playing poker with you." The warning tone in Hound's voice brought the attention of the various 'adults' and child to him, the 'adults' staring at him in mute horror while Naruto just gave him a cheeky grin.

" They asked me to play." The blond responded innocently.

The three spirits that were sitting behind him, laughed hard and loud, still slightly amazed that Naruto had won all five poker games in a row without any help at all.

 It was around two AM when Hound finally managed to drag Naruto home, despite the many begs from the troublemaker squad for a rematch, and around two thirty when Naruto actually went to sleep.

When Hound didn't return like he should have, Bear almost got worried, and quickly made his way to Naruto's crap- Shabby, little apartment.

He let out a sigh of relief when Hound appeared unharmed, curled around Naruto in a protective manner as they both slept peacefully.

Bear would yell at Hound later.

 

 

When Naruto was awake again, it was around five that the young blonde had opened his eyes, he found himself in an unfamiliar place.

It was dark and wet, the walls were covered in shadows making them appear as if Naruto was standing in an abyss rather than a hallway of some sorts.

"Hello." The blonde shyly called out, quietly tiptoeing his way down the hall to the only light he could see,

The room he walked into was wide and open, the red light making it appear more menacing.

" **So you've finally come to pay your prisoner a visit? Though I will admit you came far sooner than I wished.** " Muttered a smooth, deep, and dark voice, the owner hidden by a darkness that lurked just beyond the large metal bars placed at the back of the room.

" Are you ok?" Naruto quickly asked, trudging through the clear sludge that lined the floor," Is it small in there? Do you need help?" The owner of the deep voice stared down at the young blond, in anger, and in faint surprise.

When the owner of the voice was about to roar, and snarl at his young prison warden, the child surprised him again.

"Are you angry? You can yell and hit me if you'd like. A lot of people hate me, so it's okay if you do too." Naruto was smiling as he spoke as if the words he had spoken were nothing more than an everyday conversation.

Kurama finally made himself known, closing slightly in on the gap he had made between his warden and him, piercing the young blond's bright blue eyes with his own ruby red ones.

" **They do not hate you, but me, the monster inside of you.** " Kurama corrected, watching warily as the young boy came a little closer.

"That's okay, they can hate me instead of you then." The young blonde peered around the dark cage as he spoke, frowning when he realized that the cage lacked everything," If you're in me, then I can change your cage right?" 

Kurama tried to call the burning hatred he had felt for millennia, but as he stared into Naruto's bright and innocent blue eyes, he could not call his violent nature out in front of the child.

" **Yes, it will take you much longer than you think,** _ **child**._ " Kurama told him, narrowing his eyes slightly as Naruto bunched his face up in thought.

"Okay, then I'll try to start now, I think a big forest is better than this creepy place." Naruto finally said after a moment, giving Kurama a big smile as if they'd been friends for years and had not just offered the large beast a chance to hit him.

" **I killed your parents... I attacked the village... I am the reason the villagers hit, and hate you.** " Kurama told him softly, watching for any type of change in Naruto's eyes or demeanor. Yet continued to be puzzled when he received nothing but a patient smile. 

" I know, but I'm not mad at you. I am sad I'll never know my parents when they were alive but... It must've made you so angry and scared." Karuma bristled at the child's statement, he, Kurama, was a demonic beast, or god depending on some, he did not _get_ scared.

" **What do _I_ need to fear?** " Kurama asked hotly, his eyes still narrowingly assessing Naruto as he wiggled his way through the bars.

" I'd be scared, some stranger controls me when I wanted to be left alone, and then I'm forced into a dark room con-constunt-canstant constantly In a lot of pain, and then another dark room and more pain, and when I'm finally free, I'm controlled again and forced into another dark room." Naruto suddenly gasped, tripping over himself as he finally stood before Kurama, though the gasp was not from fear Kurama bitterly realized.

" I haven't hurt you, have I? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I didn't know I was. I'm so so-" The young blonde was cut off as Kurama gently forced his snout into the child's stomach, the tailed beast only prayed none of his siblings found him trying to reassure his jinchuuriki.

" **You have not, I doubt you ever will really.** " Karuma told him softly, part of him perplexed at the child's eagerness to befriend, and accommodate him, his other part furious at himself for falling for such a cheap tactic, and even thinking that the child really cared.

" **What are playing at, small warden.** " Kurama asked quietly, watching with wide eyes as Naruto buried his face into Kurama's thick snout fur, he received only a muffled sound as his reply.

After a little prompting from Kurama, Naruto untangled himself from his snout and stared into Kurama's eyes," I wanna be your friend, but you can say no." The blonde quietly whispered, and Kurama felt his will to call his rage disappearing quickly.

" **My name is Kurama little one, I am the Kyuubi No Kitsune, the nine-tailed fox, and I,** " Sage, what was he saying, Kurama yelled mentally at himself," **Would very much like to try my way in befriending you.** " Kurama shifted awkwardly, he'd never done anything like this, the last person to even be this close to Kurama had been the Sage.

Naruto beamed, burying his face into Kurama's neck fur when Naruto had moved was beyond Kurama, with a loud and cheerful 'yay'.

Though the idea of a small child sleeping on him did little to convince Kurama that befriending his warden was a smart idea, yet he could not bring himself to wake up the child when he sent him a pointed look from the corner of his red slit eyes.

A few hours later Naruto was awoken by an amused Hound, and the blonde wondered if he had dreamed up the fox, but the leftover warmth and smell of forest air told him he hadn't.

 

 

 

Hound groaned, for what felt like the fifteenth time, as he watched an excited Naruto and Sasuke run around," Oh quit your moping!" Mikoto snapped at him, sewing another ribbon onto the dress she forced Hound to wear, he was, after all, the only other person slim enough to help her make the dress.

" Why couldn't you just get another Uchiha to help you, I'm sure there are plenty of slim ladies, or men, who would have been thrilled to help you." Hound mumbled, annoyed at the older female's insistence that he wear the dress.

Mikoto snorted in an undignified manner, tying a ribbon so tightly around Hound's waist that it made him gasp," I need this dress to be perfect for tonight, and as your sensei's most trusted student, you were trusted with watching Naruto grow up, happy and healthy. If it hadn't been for ghosts, he would be far more malnourished than he is now, this is merely my revenge." Kakashi stifled another groan.

Kakashi knew exactly what was happening later that night, and he knew he would hate it.

What was it, you might ask.

Well, it was a clan-head dinner and meeting. A dinner where all clan-heads would sit and discuss matters about their clan, and boast about their family and heirs, the dinner would then lead to a discussion about politics, and matters about the village.

There hadn't been one since before the nine-tails attacked, most villagers and shinobi believed that the Uchiha had been a problem during the attack and not a very useful helper.

The dinner was basically the most polite way for the other clans to say," Hey, we're sorry for being idiots. We now see that we were wrong and welcome you back." 

The Uchiha clan readily welcomed it.

" Hound, Hound!" Hound quickly glanced at his young charge, that had skidded to a stop before him," Yes?" Hound said calmly, knowing the blonde was on the verge of exploding with excitement. 

" Skika taught us how to play shogi!" The blonde happily told him, dancing around the ANBU without so much as a questioning glance at the dress.

Shika, which was probably Shikamaru since Shikaku had dropped him off while he came to inform Fugako that the Hokage needed his help with something, quietly called for Naruto to come back. Somewhat loudly informing the blonde of his other two friends who came to visit.

Kakashi watched as Skikamaru introduced the Yamanaka clan heiress, and the Akamichi clan heir to Naruto, Kakashi also took note how gentle the other two kids were, and figured Shikamaru had somehow told them Naruto was shy and socially awkward without actually saying it.

It was amusing to watch, Sasuke was holding Naruto's hand like it was a lifeline, Ino had somehow already put neatly tied ribbons in all four of the boy's hair, Shikamaru would quietly inform the others definitions of words they didn't understand without any judgment at all, Chouji would offer his seemingly unending amount of snacks to the others mostly to Naruto and Ino, and Naruto...

Well, Naruto was Naruto, he gave them unyielding support, showering them with compliments, without really noticing he was.

" You don't have to go on a diet like adults do when you grow up." Hound nearly faceplanted at Naruto's drifting voice, the feeling of a ribbon tightening on his shoulder made him realized Mikoto heard the blonde too.

" And why's that?" Ino surprisingly didn't shriek, or even sound angry, but honestly curious. Then again, Naruto didn't have a cruel bone in his body, even though they just met, the other clan heirs must have realized that.

" Well, no matter how you grow up, you're gonna grow up pretty anyways." Hound felt Mikoto relax, and realized quickly he had as well.

" I think, when you grow up, you'll be really good looking too!" There were various noises of agreement from the other three heirs after Ino's declaration. 

" They're going to do anything to keep him happy, now that they're his friends, you know." Mikoto quietly told him, motioning with her free hand for Hound to twirl, once he did, she nodded and he quickly, and gently, took the dress off.

" He's going to somehow befriend every clan's heir, just watch." Hound shot back, hearing Mikoto snort softly as she walked back to her room.

" Is there even any doubt?" Hound chuckled and followed after Naruto and his new gang of friends.

 

After settling in a tree, and after a good half hour of playing, Hound found himself watching the group of five children cloud gazing in amusement.

" You can see ghosts?" Shikamaru gave Naruto a calculating look as if assessing the other to see if they were lying," When did you start seeing them?" he finally asked after a minute of silence.

Naruto shrugged, blankly looking at the sky as he was deep in thought," I'm not sure, I guess I've always seen them. Aunt Mito said most babies can see spirits since the spirit-tual chakra is really strong to them, but after they're two they're not able to see them anymore." Naruto shot Shikamaru a big grin," She said I'm special." 

 Hound quietly chuckled, he was special indeed.

" Mito... Like Lady Mito Uzumaki?" Shikamaru asked, remembering the many lessons his parents drilled into him about the village's history.

" Yep! My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and she's my Ōoba. Since my Sōsobo was really sick and frail, aunt Mito was named as the main heir so there wouldn't be any pressure on Kasama, that's my great grandma's name. The Uzumaki val-ued life like that, they didn't want Lady Kasama to feel pres-sured so they took all the pres-sure off her." Naruto wrinkled his nose, but let his annoyance pass.

He hated that he sometimes had promblems pronouncing words.

Skikamaru hummed in thought, while Ino piped up," If you can see, and hear spirits, does that mean you can touch them?" She asked eagerly, rolling onto her stomach to stare at the other blonde across from her.

Naruto rolled onto his stomach as well, ending up closer to Sasuke who didn't mind at all," Yeah! Aunt Mito said that since I was more in tune to nature chakra, and had lots more chakra than normal people, that the spirits could filter out my excess chakra into spirit-tual chakra and it made it easier to touch me. I need to work on my chakra control though, 'cause if I use too much I could hurt a spirit or acca... Accidently-"," Accidentally?"," Yeah, Accidentally banish them." Naruto finished.

" Banish them? Banish where?" Ino tilted her head intrigued, with a quick glance to Shikamaru and Chouji, she found them curious about it too, and Sasuke seemed smug as if he already knew, considering Naruto and Sasuke were glued to each others side half the time, he probably did.

" Well, it depends. If whoever I banish regretted the bad things they did or were really nice and kind, go back to 'The Pure Land' and have a choice to stay there and watch over the living, and maybe even stay here and watch us that way, or to be reborn, aunt Mito used a different word but I can't say it." Naruto gave them a sheepish smile while a blush crept up his face," Sorry," No one made fun of him so Naruto continued," If they have unfinished business, strong ties to the living like a family or friend, or aren't ready to move on yet they reform here a little while later, if they have a lot of spiritual chakra then they take longer to reform." 

Naruto made a face, crinkling his nose in thought, before continuing," Uh, I don't remember the real name but it's the opposite of 'The Pure Land', it's where the bad guys go, and they can't leave there at all, but if they still have a chance at saving themself-", "Themselves."," Themselves they go to purgatory." Naruto paused, pleased with himself at remembering and correctly pronouncing the word," Though some spirits go to purgatory before they can go to The Pure Land if something is keeping them tied to life, and death." 

Ino sent a glance at Shikamaru who gave her a look as well," Do we have any spirits following us?" And frowned when Naruto nodded," Who are they?"

Naruto glanced at the trio of spirits following after his new friends," Well, one, the... oldest?" The spirit nodded," Is round, and strong looking. He has red circles on his cheeks, red hair in a ponytail but the top of his head is spiky, and his chest plate says food."," The name is Chouzabi, young one."," He said his name is Chouzabi." 

Shikamaru and Ino sent a quick glance to Chouji, who looked both pleased and perplexed," That's my grandfather." He confirmed, and Naruto smiled," He said he likes watching you since you have such great po-ten-tial." Chouji flushed, and Shikamaru smiled, while Ino sent her round friend a toothy grin.

" The one following Shika is a woman. She's really tall, and lean but you can see her muscles and she's really pretty. Like Touka-Nee! And her hair is short, just above her shoulders." The woman flushed, and thanked him before mumbling a 'Shikaharu'," Her name is Shikaharu!"," My grandmother." Shikamaru told him, nodding his head after Naruto finished.

" Who's following me?" Ino asked eagerly bouncing in her spot, eliciting laughs from the other kids, and spirits around her.

" Well he's tall and buff, and his hair is blonde's like ours, but he has a large scar across his face." Naruto motioned with his hand where the scar was," And his hair isn't long like your dads, his ponytail ends just below his shoulders." Naruto sent the man a glance, and the older man smiled," Inohachi." Naruto nodded and turned back to Ino," Inohachi is his name."

The blonde girl grinned madly," My grandfather!" She said excitedly, turning to face her other two friends.

" Our grandparents are watching over us, I told you they were!" Ino quickly told Shikamaru who gave her a deadpanned look," You said ancestors, not grandparents." Ino stuck her tongue out at him.

" We should go to the park." Chouji suggested, a large smile on his face," We could play ninja, or something.." Chouji finished embarrassed when the other four kids started to star at him. 

" That sounds awesome, I always wanted to play Chakra toss, but no kids wanted to play with me." Naruto said quickly, a bright smile on his face as he faced Chouji. 

" Chakra toss? I've never heard of that.." Ino said sheepishly but felt relieved when the other three kids were just as confused as her.

" Oh- It's a game aunt Mito taught me. It's a chakra control exercise that the Uzumaki turned into a game, most Uzumaki kids loved playing it." Naruto quickly jumped up and found a nearby stone, once grabbing the object he returned to the group making their interest grow even more.

" Shika, could you mold some chakra in your hand?" Shikamaru nodded and did as he was asked, surprised when Naruto did the same with the hand holding the rock and the rock flew from Naruto's hand into his own.

" To play this game you have to constantly mold chakra to pass the rock or whatever we use to the other people playing, one person stays in the middle and tries to grab the rock with nothing but chakra with their eyes closed, once they have the rock they get to join the group and whoever had thrown the rock has to try to grab it. The game helps molding chakra, sensing chakra and overpowering chakra.." 

Naruto paused, turning to face the tree Hound was resting in," You can join us if you want!" Naruto said eagerly, much to the confusion of his other friends, but their confusion faded instantly when a small hooded boy came out from behind the tree.

" I would like that if you would allow me." The boy shyly mumbled, occasionally fiddling with his tan overcoat," My name is Shino Aburame." He continued watching the group of kids while his heart raced in his chest.

" I don't see why not, I'm Ino Yamanaka."

" Shikamaru Nara."

" Ch-Chouji Akamichi."

" Sasuke Uchiha." Shino's eyebrows met his hairline when Naruto gently pushed him towards the group," And I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Come on, we're going to the park."

Shino found he didn't mind much that Naruto was pushing him, as the blonde was gentle and very aware of where Shino's bugs were and avoided them.

The young Aburame also found that the rag-tag group of kids eagerly talked to him, mostly about random things but never once about his bugs, or clan. Which he was glad for since most people tended to stay away from him after learning he was a Aburame.

The walk to the park was normally a short one, but along the way, the group had run into another kid who had a small puppy on his head.

Kiba Inuzuka, he had introduced himself as, only to get swept away by the excitement and happiness radiating off the blonde boy spearheading the group.

And since Akamaru liked the warmth and forest-y smell of the blonde boy's chakra, Kiba had even more of a reason to go along with them.

Standing in the middle of their newly formed circle, Naruto quickly re-explained Chakra toss to the two members that had just joined, one who had only heard the end of the explanation, and one who hadn't heard it at all.

When he finished he tossed the rock to Shikamaru, who easily caught it and smiled at the group," I'll be the first in the middle."

Shikamaru found he had barely any problems molding the right amount of chakra as he passed the rock to Sasuke, Sasuke, on the other hand, thought he was failing a child's game as he couldn't mold the right amount of chakra.

When the ravenette looked up, he was surprised to see Naruto brightly smiling at him," It's ok if you're having trouble! It means you have a lot of chakra, more chakra means less control, and besides, it'd be weird if you got it right on the first try, you'd never perfect it that way." 

Sasuke felt immensely relieved when Naruto finished talking, grinning widely at the blonde with a blush on his face, before trying again.

After a total of five minutes, Sasuke finally managed to pass the rock to Ino.

Ino had little difficulty molding the chakra, and after a minute passed it to Shino, who had the same amount of difficulty, who then passed it to Chouji.

Chouji took longer then Shino, and Ino but shorter than Sasuke, but managed to mold the right amount and pass it to Kiba who took just as long as Chouji.

Naruto waited until the group was tossing the rock continually before he closed his eyes, finding the chakra covered rock was easy, it was forcing his chakra to override his friends and divert the rock into his hands that was hard.

Yet, within a few minutes, four to be precise, Naruto felt the rock sitting in hand, which elicated a gasp from Ino, and 'cool, dude!' from Kiba.

Ino pouted as she and Naruto switched, but it was quickly replaced with excitement when she realized she would be trying to get the rock, yet despite her excitement, thinking and doing were two different things.

She found this out after ten minutes had passed, and she had yet to sense chakra.

" Focus your chakra into the air around you, and feel for the other chakras, when you sense us, then try to sense for the moving chakra." Naruto called to her, fumbling with his chakra before tossing the rock to Shino.

Ino merely nodded and did as she was told, surprised when she could faintly sense her friend's chakra around her. It was another ten minutes later when she finally snatched the rock from Chouji as he passed it to Kiba.

The game went on for a few hours, the person in the middle constantly switching out with whoever, and Shikamaru noted with faint amusement that Naruto was the only one who could catch Sasuke's rock, and Sasuke was the only one who could catch Naruto's rock.

" That was fun! I went on longer than I thought I could." Kiba cheered loudly, Akamaru yipping on his head.

" Our chakra was being replenished as we played, so our chakra reserves grew and made it easier, am I correct?" Shino asked, staring at the Naruto next to him.

The blonde nodded eagerly," Yep! When we play this again we should try some of the 'levels'." 

At the interested looks on his friends, Naruto blushed and continued," What we played was the beginner level, I guess you can say. We just used an object filled with nature chakra and overpowered that chakra with our own. The next step is to make our pattern random, so instead of me passing the rock to Shino I would pass it to someone else, it makes sensing harder since it's so... ear-rat-tic... Erratic. Next, we would use the different affinities, so someone with the earth affinity would make a rock and we'd use that. It makes it hard since we need to have the right amount of chakra to toss it and use our own earth affinity so we don't destroy it."

" How we do that, I know we don't all have earth affinities." Shikamaru asked perplexed, watching as Naruto blushed and shifted.

" Most Uzumaki have all five chakra paths open." At the gaping faces of his friends, Naruto looked down in embarrassment.

" Al- all five, does this mean you...?" Ino asked incredulously, and Naruto nodded.

" The younger you are, the easier it is... I-I could try to teach you, though aunt Mito would be there too." Naruto sheepishly suggested, startled when Sasuke launched onto him.

" That's awesome! You don't have to though, it's your clan!" Sasuke quickly started, gushing to the blonde while he clasped their hands together.

" I agree. While it is impressive, it is a Uzumaki tradition, and though you have shared with us this game from your clan, I feel it is too generous of you to share this as well." Shino politely said, and Kiba, who glanced at Shino with wide eyes, quickly agreed with the normally quiet boy. 

Naruto thought for a moment after Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru voiced nearly the same words, and finally came to a conclusion," No, I want to teach this to you guys. The Uzumaki taught this to friends and family, and, since you guys are my first friends, I want you guys to know this!" 

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed at Naruto's confession, how a bright ball of kindness and sunshine didn't have friends was very suspicious to him, though he remembered how the villagers glared at him when they walked to the park and he figured the adults tried to steer their kids clear of Naruto.

" Too kind for his own good, don't know why the adults don't like him." Ino muttered bitterly, receiving a nod from Chouji and Shino, and the group watched Sasuke, Naruto and Kiba play wrestle.

Naruto and Kiba stopped abruptly, much to Sasuke and the other's confusion," There's a girl crying over there!" Naruto said as he pointed off into the distance, while Kiba nodded," And over there." 

Ino quickly stood, grabbing Naruto's outstretched arm and tugging him in the direction he had pointed," Well, come one! We can help them." She loudly proclaimed, dragging the other blonde.

" Actually the girl other there is closer." Kiba called to her, resulting in her quickly turning towards the area Kiba pointed at," I knew that."

When the whole group, since Shikamaru and Sasuke weren't allowed to stay back at the clearing, made their way to the road, they found a young pink haired girl crying in the middle.

" Hey, Naruto, help me with this." Ino said as she dragged the other blonde with her, and soon both found themselves in front of the sobbing girl.

" You always get called forehead girl, and get picked on, right?" Ino asked, crouched before the other girl with Naruto standing awkwardly by her side.

" Who're you?" The pink haired girl mumbled out, staring at Ino like the blonde girl would suddenly attack her, which had Naruto frown deeply since he knew what that was like.

" I'm Ino Yamanaka, and he's Naruto Uzumaki." Ino said cheerfully, pulling Naruto down with her, he didn't really resist though.

The pink haired girl seemed slightly relieved that another bullied kid was near her, but quickly pushed that relief away as she mumbled out a 'Sakura'.

" I can't hear you, speak up." Ino said quickly, not going to let the pink haired girl stay sad," Let's try again."

" I'm Sakura." The pinkette loudly exclaimed, more tears leaking down her face.

" That's better." Moving Sakura's bangs away, Ino stared at her forehead," So this is the famous forehead, huh? It is kinda big. Is that why you cover it with your bangs?" 

Sakura let out a quiet sob," That's dumb. It just makes it worse, makes you look like a sheep-dog." Ino said bluntly, making a majority of her new friend group widen their eyes.

Ino chuckled," So you're Sakura." The crying girl nodded," Hey, you know what? I've got something special for you, come on, we can get it on our way to dinner." 

The constant warmth radiating off Naruto, he was a literal heater, and the odd form of kindness from Ino finally made Sakura calm down, and the promise of food seemed to help as well.

When Sakura was integrated into the group, she nearly gushed at the amount of kindness the group showed, choosing to stick close to Naruto for his warmth, though no one seemed to mind.

Sakura noted the group wasn't heading into town but decided that whatever the group had planned couldn't be bad as she had idle chats with her new friends, Naruto was surprisingly smart for his age even if he didn't know it.

" She's being bullied!" Kiba and Naruto loudly said together, breaking into a sprint towards the loud sound of an older boy berating someone, Sasuke was close behind the two.

Tugging at Sakura, Ino dragged the startled girl into the starting battle, Chouji, Shino, and Shikamaru following quietly but amused.

" I bet you think you're better than us just cause you're a Hyuuga." The older boy spat, pushing the young Hyuuga to the ground, laughing viciously when tears started to form in her pale eyes.

Before the older boy could do anything, or his friends could do anything, he was taken out by a blur of blonde and brown.

" Don't pick on someone just because they come from a clan!"," Yeah! Don't pick on someone younger than you either." Naruto and Kiba yelled at the downed boy who quickly got up, his chest was sporting a muddy footprint, and his cheek, a deep purple bruise.

" It's an Inuzuka, a wild dumb animal, just like their mutts." The boy sneered, seemingly not aware of the hell he was about to unleash.

Kiba snarled, but before he could attack, the bully boy received a swift kick to the chest again," Animals are amazing, and one Inuzuka nin-kin is smarter and stronger than you four combined!" Naruto yelled, missing the happy grin plastered on Kiba and Sasuke's faces.

While the bullies moved to fight Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba, plus Ino who kinda suddenly appeared on the sidelines with a menacing grin, Sakura quickly made her way to the young Hyuuga girl.

Helping the heiress up, Sakura brought the girl to Shikamaru, Shino, and Chouji, and gave the girl a small smile," You're one of us now, we take care of our own." Shikamaru quietly told her.

One of the bullies, having seen Sakura bring their victim to safety, noticed Chouji and decided, despite getting kicked and hit for badmouthing the Uchiha (calling them red-eyed losers), Yamanaka (saying they only went far because they blackmailed their way up), Inuzuka, Aburame (calling them creepy bugs that needed to be squashed), Nara (calling them lazy, which Shikamaru loudly agreed too), and Hyuuga clans, to belittle Chouji.

" Look it's the fatso! I doubt a big rolly-polly like you could even become a ninja, you'd just be busy eating food and getting fatt-" The bully wasn't able to finish, or dodge thanks to Shikamaru, as Ino and Naruto decked the boy in the face resulting in a loud crunch noise from the boy's nose.

" Don't you dare you say that about him, Chouji is amazing!"," His size doesn't matter, Chouji is nice, and strong, and he'll be a way better ninja than you ever hope to be!" Ino and Naruto yelled together, standing above the boy as he laid on the ground in shock.

Chouji was a blushing mess, embarrassed at his friend's words of praise since Hinata and Sakura were still praising him, and found he was no longer affected by the bullies words. Shikamaru was glad the others voice the same thoughts and smirked as Ino and Naruto sent him a thankful glance, but the sweet moment was ruined as the bully quickly got up and uttered the final thing holding back the groups combined rage.

" Whatever, you're still a demon, freak!" The boy yelled, his friends joining his shout of 'freak' at the end.

It was that split second of pure hurt that covered Naruto's face that made his friends lose it, and it was Sakura that made the first move.

With a speed, she never knew she had, Sakura launched herself at the nearest bully, punching him square in the face, the following crack was much louder than the one Naruto and Ino had made.

" How dare you. _How dare you_ say that about _him_! Naruto is nice, and bright, and warm, and you don't deserve to even be _near him_! He's much better than you, don't you ever say that about him again, _don't you dare_!" She yelled at him enunciating her last few words with punches. She was stopped by a just as furious Hinata, who had a glare that convinced Sakura the Hinata stopping her and the Hinata she had been talking to were two different Hinata's.

" He passed out." Hinata told her softly, gently tugging Sakura off the unconscious boy, about to turn back to the utter chaos that had devolved, Hinata suddenly got a devious idea. Reaching down to the bully, she quickly sealed the bully's chakra in his arms and legs, with Sakura's permission.

Sakura winced as Kiba and Sasuke took down a bully, or maybe she winced from her knuckles since they were sore and bleeding.

" Take it back, take it back!" Sasuke yelled angrily, sweeping the bully's legs out from under him as Kiba launched himself down onto the bully in a flurry of snarls and punches.

Sharing a knowing look with Hinata, both girls went to stop them, not before noticing a very surprised, but happy Naruto.

" I've never had friends, and no one really tries to defend me." The blonde told the two girls sheepishly as if he was admitting an embarrassing secret and not something that made their blood boil, and their rage reach a peak.

" With us, we'll make sure to defend you." Hinata said seriously, Sakura wanted to point out the Hyuuga had lost her stutter but held her tongue as she decided it would be a rude thing to do.

Sakura stayed by Naruto as Hinata went to stop Kiba and Sasuke from killing the now unconscious bully they had been fighting, while Hinata and the others were away, Sakura complemented Naruto for everything from his hairstyle to his punches, and despite trying to cheer _him_ up, Naruto had somehow turned it around and Sakura found _herself_ being complimented.

It wasn't until Sasuke had tackled Naruto that Naruto was back to his cheerful self," Are you ok? Did they hurt you? Are you sure you're fine now? Do you want me to hit them again?" Naruto giggled and laughed at Sasuke's barrage of questions, even Kiba cracked a smile and the ravenette quickly clasped their hands together as a way to fully calm Naruto down.

" He's right though, are you ok? You are part of the pack after all." Kiba said with a toothy grin, and Akamaru yipped in agreement.

Normally being part of an Inuzuka's pack you needed to be family, an Inuzuka, or a close friend, but Kiba felt the same type of rage from the insults thrown at his new friends as he did for his sister when her boyfriend cheated on her, or for his mom when someone belittled her for being a single mother, so it was safe to say Kiba thought of them as family already.

Naruto blushed and grinned widely back at Kiba, but quickly winced as a bully flew past him and hit a nearby tree, rendering the older boy unconscious.

" And that's for Naruto." Chouji and Ino yelled at the same time, not noticing the blush that returned to Naruto's face, and fist-bumped as they returned to the group. 

Shino and Shikamaru were the last to join the group, and they seemed the most pleased," Shino covered them in his Kikaichu, while I held them down with my Shadow Bind Technique. It didn't take long for them to pass out from fear." Shikamaru said nonchalantly, acting impassively, but Chouji and Ino knew he was very pleased with how his fight ended out. 

After making sure Naruto was okay, the blonde blushed and said he was, the group finally made their way back to town.

The walk to town went surprisingly fast, mostly due to the groups shared excitement, and they even had time to stop by Ino's place to grab the present she had for Sakura.

It was a cute red ribbon which she had tied into Sakura's hair, eliciting the pinkette to blush profusely when the group collectedly complimented her.

When the group shambled into the Uchiha compound, they were met with wide surprised eyes but ignored them in favor of getting to Sasuke's house.

" Naruto, Sasuke, you two know not to- What happened to you all?" Mikoto shrieked, instantly pulling her son, and godson close to her.

At the startled shriek of their friend, or wife for Fugako, the clan heads rushed to Mikoto's side, and they instantly realized why she had been startled.

Sasuke was caked in mud, sand, and who knows what else, and was sporting deep purple bruises on his hands and arms, one even being found on his cheek.

Naruto was just as messy and had just the same amount if not more bruises than Sasuke, there was also a cut on his cheek, showing whoever they fought had weapons.

Kiba was by far the messiest, sported deep bruises like the other two, but had blood dried under his nails, a showcase sign that he had attacked someone.

A civilian girl with pink hair, Inoichi recognized her as the girl Ino always went on about, had a few blood splatters dried on her face, and her knuckles were caked in blood as well as puffy and red.

Ino had one hand with bloody knuckles, and like Kiba, Sasuke, and Naruto, she was sporting deep purple bruises and caked in mud, which surprised him since Ino hated getting dirty.

Shino and Shikamaru had gotten off the best, in the adult's opinions, as they only had a few cuts, and seemed to be completely clean.

Hinata, Hizashi noted with confusion that she was messy too, seemed pleased with the few bruises and cuts she had.

Chouji was muddy, covered in leaves and twigs, but he had barely any bruises, only the one on his forehead showing he had headbutted someone _hard_. Chouza felt incredibly proud, even if his wife was muttering that it was his side of the family Chouji got it from.

" There were bullies, and they didn't want to stop bullying without a fight." Shikamaru said with a shrug, even as Mikoto started wiping his face with a damp towel.

" Who? Who were they bullying?" Mikoto asked, if it was who she thought it was, then she could understand why they went all out because based on their looks they had to have gone all out.

" They were about to use a jutsu on Hinata." Naruto said suddenly, remembering the hand sign the lead bully had started to form, as if that explained everything, which it did slightly.

Shikamaru quickly nodded," I'm not sure what jutsu it was but involved using their lungs." The bully had taken a deep breath seemingly for no reason but Shikamaru knew better.

Mikoto quickly called for Itachi to grab a medkit," Most likely a fire jutsu, or maybe a wind jutsu. They both rely mainly on storing chakra in your lungs."

Hizashi paled, his wife stilling next to him, sure he was occasionally disappointed in his 6-year-old daughter's lack of confidence but that lack was no reason to nearly tear a child to shreds or to burn them to death.

Sasuke suddenly scowled, the look making Mikoto glance at Naruto who was happily distracted by Hanabi, Hizashi and Tebenasu's second child.

" They could insult me for being a Uchiha, but insulting Naruto was too far." The young Uchiha hotly whispered, and the surrounding adults realized the other children agreed with him as well, except for Naruto who was still distracted by the giggling baby.

Mikoto chuckled, like mother like son it seemed, Kushina always did have the habit of making people adore her, of making people follow her to the ends of the earth. It seemed Naruto gained more than Kushina's eyes, mischievousness, and vindictiveness.

" Who's hungry?" Mikoto asked with a laugh, finishing wrapping up Sakura's hands. The girl had broken her pinky and middle finger on her right hand, and only her pointer finger on her left.

All the kid's attention finally caught again, Mikoto led them to dining table that was filled with food.

Surprisingly the dinner went well.

 

 

It was finally night time, and the Uchiha clan head's house was finally quiet, Itachi and Shisui were both cleaning dishes, Mikoto and Fugako were getting ready for bed, and Naruto and Sasuke were both already asleep.

With Hound hidden in the corner of the room watching Naruto more than Sasuke.

But despite the peaceful atmosphere, Naruto was in fact not asleep, instead, he was animatedly telling Kurama how his day went while trying desperately to add something to his mindscape for Kurama.

The sewer had definitely gotten lighter, and the water was completely gone, there was even some grass growing, though the more Naruto tried, the more he actually felt tired.

With a deep chuckle, Kurama watched Naruto fall asleep.

His container was weird, cute, but weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really long chapter, hope you love it. Sorry for the long wait, and sorry for the longer wait for the other two.

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly just something for fun, so sorry if it's not that long.


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